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Seasonal Surface Changes of Earth

posted May 5, 2011, 10:43 AM by Abel Mendez

These are true-color computer animations of the surface changes of Earth during one year based on NASA Visible Earth imagery. The seasonal changes of ice and vegetation are clearly visible. The rotating globe animation shows the Sun-facing side of Earth as it rotates around the Sun (rotating only once per month for clarity). Earth appears to wobble in space exposing more the South Hemisphere early in the year (Northern Winter) and later the North Hemisphere during mid-year (Northern Summer). This is caused by the axial inclination of Earth of 23°and is the basis for seasonal changes of ice and vegetation. These animations were done as part of the Visible Pale-Earth project as a reference for comparison with paleoclimates models. They do not show ice sheets over ocean areas and the actual contour of Antarctica is clear.